RTSC County Qualifier @ LAC

Saturday 26th November, saw RTSC host its first ever gala at the prestigious LAC. The competition came from all across London and Essex and made for some challenging swimming. As always, RTSC responded to the heat and came away with some impressive PBs and medals.
The girls started things off with the 100m Butterfly. 9 year old Codie McSheffrey collected a bronze medal, whilst 10 year old Tierney Rooney swam to gold medal position. 11 year old Emilia Jopson claimed silver along with 14 year old Emily Milton. 13 year old Lauren Braxton collected bronze, whilst Georgia Milton secured gold and Megan Witton a bronze ibn the 15 years and over age group.

3 golds came to the boys in their 50m Butterfly; 9 year old Raheel Mahmood, 11 year old Louis Lane and Jacky Ayling in the 15+ age group. 13 year old Joshua Eguakhide and Daniel Gencas collected silver and gold respectively.

200IM gave the girls another medal rush; 9 year old Ella Kilby, Jopson, 12 year old Holly Hagan and 15 year old Jess Ayling all claimed silver medals. There was then a trio of golds from 13 year old Amelia Moule, Emily Milton and Witton. The boys weren’t to be outdone in the 200m Freestyle where they collected 6 medals: silver to Mahmood and 10 year old Rhys Penfold, gold to Lane, gold to Gencas with silver to team mate 13 year old Nathan Banga and gold to 14 year old Jude Ward.

The girls’ 50m Freestyle produced a silver medal finish for 9 year old Sophia Moule and Emily Milton. Big sister Georgia swam to secure a gold medal finish.

The boys 50m Backstroke gave Gencas a bronze, Ward another gold and gold to James Rowell in the 15 and over age group.

Kilby collected bronze in the 100m Backstroke and11 year old Ruby Guynan a silver. 12 year old Hagan and Olivia Witton claimed gold and bronze respectively. Moule and Megan Witton both collected silvers.

Lane and 9 year old Lewis Jarrett took the gold medal spots in the 100m Breaststroke, whilst 15 year old Joe Groves claimed silver.

5 medals came for Town in the 100m Freestyle; silver to Kilby, bronze to Jopson, gold to Hagan and both Emily and Georgia Milton. The boys’ 50m Breaststroke gave Jarrett gold number two and Mahmood a silver. Banga and Groves both collected silver medals.

Session 2 commenced with the Boys’ 100m Butterfly. Mahmood and Lane dominated in their age groups picking up gold medals. The 13 year old boys produced a strong 1,2,3 finish for Town courtesy of Eguakhide, Gencas and Banga.

50m Butterfly for the girls produced a gold for Kilby and Rooney with 10 year old Millie Hosler claiming silver. Jopson and Olivia Witton each collected a bronze whilst sisters Emily and Georgia Milton both claimed silvers.

The boys’ 200IM secured Jarrett’s hat trick of golds, with Mahmood settling for silver. Lane and Gencas had another gold each with Eguakhide taking bronze and Groves a silver.

The girls 200m Freestyle added another medal to Kilby’s haul, this time a silver; teammate Alex Giles collected the bronze in the same age group. Guynan claimed a bronze, Hagan a silver, Moule and Emily Milton a gold each and Megan Witton a bronze.

50m Freestyle produced a silver for Gencas and a bronze for Eguakhide. 14 year old Aaron Wilson produced a fine PB to claim gold as did Jack Ayling in a PB of 24.59!

The girls’ 50m Backstroke then gave 2 bronzes and 2 silver to Town’s swimmers, silvers courtesy of Olivia Witton and Moule with bronzes from Kilby and Megan Witton.

Ward completed his trio of golds in the 100m Backstroke along with Rowell. Mahmood, Penfold, Gencas and Wilson all collected silvers, whilst Banga and Groves took bronze medals.

The boys 100m Freestyle produced golds for Mahmood, Lane, Wilson and Ayling. Training mates Gencas and Banga collected silver and bronze for their efforts.

The last race of the meet was the girls 50m Breaststroke; McSheffrey took gold, 11 year old Samara Hamilton a bronze and Hagan and Ayling a gold each.

The following weekend gave many of Town’s swimmers their first outing of the distance swims; the girls took on the 800m Freestyle, whilst the boys took on 60 lengths in the 1500m Freestyle. All of Town’s swimmers rose to the challenge and some excellent times were recorded.

13 year old Amelia Moule claimed gold medal in her debut performance at this distance. 11 year old Louis Lane claimed silver, also on his debut performance and 13 year old Nathan Banga collected a bronze.

Town has 2 busy weekends ahead with both The Thurrock County qualifiers and the Arena League this weekend. Redbridge Last Chance Meet on 17/18 December concludes Romford’s competitive year in advance of the Essex County Championships starting in January 2017.